


All I Need To Live The Way I Please

by debarouchi



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Puppies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-26
Updated: 2013-07-26
Packaged: 2017-12-21 10:19:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/899165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/debarouchi/pseuds/debarouchi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny needs to choose a puppy for Grace. It breaks Steve's heart so of course he does what he can to make sure his new little family are happy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All I Need To Live The Way I Please

**Author's Note:**

> Puppies names are lovingly borrowed from my dear friend [](http://izychase.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://izychase.livejournal.com/)**izychase** and her furry friends.

Title: All I Need To Live The Way I Please  
Pairing/Characters: Steve/Danny, Grace  
Rating: G  
Wordcount: 2511  
Disclaimer: This fun stuff only happens in my mind, if it _does_ happen in real life then the boys aren’t telling us about it! :(

Summary: Danny needs to choose a puppy for Grace. It breaks Steve's heart so of course he does what he can to make sure his new little family are happy.

Notes: Puppies names are lovingly borrowed from my dear friend [](http://izychase.livejournal.com/profile)[**izychase**](http://izychase.livejournal.com/) and her furry friends.

“Please come with me,” Danny pleads.

Steve sits back, feet kicked up on to his desk and grins. The enjoyment of watching Danny beg for Steve’s help is priceless. He knows this is pointless, that it’s a given that in an hours time, he will be in the Camaro - most likely driving while Danny complains. “What is it that you need me so desperately for?”

Danny huffs and crosses his arms across his chest. “I’m not desperate.”

“The look on your face tells me otherwise, Danno.” Steve forcibly stops grinning and tries to be serious. “It must be something for Grace.”

“Why must it be for my daughter?”

Steve sighs and pushes to his feet. “Seriously?” He rolls his eyes and grabs his phone from the desk. “I’ll drive. You can tell me where we are going on the way to the car.”

“Thanks,” Danny says quietly, giving Steve a genuine smile.

~~~~~

Steve looks up at the building then over at his partner. “Are you sure this is the address?”

“Yeah,” Danny says, holding out the paper. Rachel’s neat writing matches the address they are sitting outside. “I have to choose a puppy for Grace.”

“A puppy?” Steve laughs long and loud. He turns to face Danny when he finally calms down. “Why are _you_ choosing a puppy for Grace?”

“She liked two but couldn’t decide between them. Rachel asked me to make the decision for her.”

“Oh wow.” Steve shakes his head. “Big choice, man. You pick the wrong one and Grace might never get over it.”

“Thank you for that reminder, Steven.” Danny gets out of the car and leans against it. “I can’t win here, can I?”

Steve walks around to rest an arm over Danny’s shoulders. “Probably not.”

“Okay, let’s do this,” Danny says eventually, striding up to the door of the rescue center.

Steve and Danny both smile when a staff member greets them at the entrance.

“Aloha gentlemen, I’m Larissa. How can I help you?”

“My daughter was in here yesterday and she asked me to come and see two puppies. Rupert and Randall.”

“Oh you must be Grace’s dad?” Larissa smiles brightly. “She’s a lovely little girl.”

Danny smiles proudly. “Thank you.”

Steve watches the happiness on Danny’s face, smiling to himself. He’s so fond of Danny and his adorable daughter that he can’t keep the smile from his own face. When the assistant looks over at him, she grins. “The puppies?” he asks, trying to sound professional.

“Of course. Come with me,” Larissa says, and leads them into another room.

There are four puppies sleeping in a large enclosure, with a fence to reaching his hip height when Steve stops next to them.

“Which ones is she interested in?” Danny asks, peering at each pup in turn.

Two of them are snuggled up together, sleeping contently and Steve knows it will be those two before they are pointed out.

“The two in the far corner are Rupert and Randall. They came in at separate times but appear to be about the same age,” Larissa says. “They’ve bonded quite well and we were hoping they might be adopted by the same family.”

“Any reason why they haven’t?” Danny asks, as he moves slowly around to the other side. He squats down carefully and looks closely at the pair.

“Both pups will grow to be reasonable size dogs and we find that most families aren’t prepared to take on two dogs of that size.”

Steve feels for the pups, and the fact that they will be separated. He walks around to kneel beside Danny. “They couldn’t take both?” he asks quietly.

“No.” Danny shakes his head firmly. “I’m surprised Rachel is even allowing one. No way will she let Gracie have two big dogs.” He stands and walks back to Larissa. “Are they safe to be around her?”

“Yes, we are confident with adequate training that they will be fine.”

Steve can’t resist and puts his fingers through the fence links to pet the closest pup. He seems to be the smallest of the two of them, a pale golden color where the other pup is a darker brown with long gangly legs. Both pups snuffle and raise their heads to look at him sleepily. “Can I pick them up?”

“Sure,” Larissa says. She smiles as Steve carefully picks each one up and brings them over to Danny.

Danny takes the brown pup, stroking his head gently. “Who’s this one?”

“That’s Randall. He’s full of energy and really playful.”

Steve holds the other puppy up and looks into his face. “So this must be Rupert?”

Danny glances over and smiles. “He’s adorable.”

“I’ll leave you with them for a little while. I hope you can make a decision,” Larissa says.

“Mahalo,” Steve says, smiling. He waits until she has left to sit down, leaning back against the wall. He puts the pup in his lap and pets him gently.

“How am I supposed to decide?” Danny sits beside Steve and lets Randall settle in his own lap.

Steve watches him intently. “I know we were joking earlier, but you know Grace would be happy with either.”

“I know,” Danny says, voice soft but serious. “We had a puppy when she was young. He looked like this little fella.”

“What happened?”

“Hit by a car.”

“I’m sorry, man.” Steve touches Danny’s thigh. “That’s hard for kids to get past.”

Danny looks up and meets Steve’s gaze with a sheepish smile. “Hard for adults too.”

“Of course.” Steve tightens his grip for a moment before moving his hand back to Rupert’s warm body.

“I hate to leave one of them here but I want this one. I think Grace would like that.” Danny reaches over and runs his finger down Rupert’s back. “I’m sorry, little man.”

Steve sighs and cradles Rupert to his chest. “I hope someone finds you soon,” he says softly to the pup.

Danny rolls his eyes at Steve. “You’re breaking my heart here. Can you stop?”

“Sorry, brah.” Steve stands and put the pup back. He pats his head gently and looks over at Danny. “You stay there and I’ll go and find Larissa. See what we need to do now.”

Danny nods and refocuses on the puppy in his lap, petting him carefully as Steve leaves the room.

Steve talks to Larissa about the adoption process and fills in as much of the paperwork as he can before he takes it back to Danny. “We need to finish completing these forms. Randall will get checked out again by the vet and you can pick him up tomorrow.”

“You did paperwork for me, babe?” Danny grins up at him, one hand gently holding the squirming pup in his lap.

“I started it,” Steve says with a shrug. “Don’t think I’m taking over the paperwork in the office.”

Danny smiles fondly and hands the puppy to Steve so he can get up, being mindful of his knee.

Steve returns the pup to the enclosure and can’t help but smile when the puppies instantly snuggle up together. He frowns as he turns away, thinking again about them being separated. Danny is already making his way back to Larissa, so Steve follows him and looks around curiously as Danny completes the forms.

“Steve?”

“Are you finished?”

Danny nods and steps forward after a final wave to Larissa. “I’ll pick him up tomorrow.”

“Why don’t you finish early tomorrow afternoon? You can pick him up and surprise Grace.”

“That sounds good, babe,” Danny says seriously. He slides into the passenger seat as Steve makes his way around to the drivers side. “I’m glad you came. Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. It was quiet at HQ anyway.”

The drive back to headquarters doesn’t take long. Steve and Danny are both lost in their own thoughts, leaving the car in a comfortable silence. Kono and Chin are waiting for them when they come into the bullpen with updates on some minor cases.

Two hours later they shut the computers down and head home, gearing up for another day tomorrow.

~~~~~

The next afternoon, Steve counts to ten and wonders again what the hell he was thinking. He’s just about to get up, _again_ when the front door opens and Danny walks in, still wearing his work clothes and carrying a pet carrier.

“Babe?” Danny smiles when he sees him. “You left early.”

“Had some errands to run,” Steve says, glancing around before he meets Danny’s eyes again. He remembers the towel in his hand and throws it towards the laundry. “How’s your new friend?”

“He’s great. But I think he was a little sad. His friend got adopted today!” Danny sets the carrier down and opens the door. “Randall?”

“Let him be, he won’t want to come out straight away,” Steve says. He grimaces when he hears the tell tale noise of pitter patter puppy feet behind him.

“Yeah, so as I was saying. Rupert was gone, someone took him today,” Danny says, animated as usual. He suddenly stops, just as he’s about to start talking again and stares at the floor by Steve’s feet. “Is that...Rupert?”

“Maybe,” Steve mutters. He bends down and scoops the pup up, bringing him closer to set down in front of Randall’s temporary home. He’s only just stepped back when two paws appear and Randall quickly crawls out to nose at the other puppy.

Both dogs let out excited yips and Randall bounces around Rupert until they both collapse in a pile together.

“You. I can’t. You’re crazy,” Danny eventually gets out. He shakes his head and sits down at the kitchen table. “What are you going to do with a puppy?”

“The kids next door are going to look after him while I’m at work,” Steve says firmly.

“You’ve already planned this?” Danny watches the pups move around until they are comfortable then looks up at Steve again, smiling brightly. “When did you decide to do this?”

“Last night,” Steve mumbles. He sits at the table and meets Danny’s gaze. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“You couldn't sleep because the thought of that puppy being left alone broke your heart,” Danny says. He shakes his head, and reaches across to grab Steve’s hand. “You’re really just a big softie aren’t you?”

Steve shakes him off, cheeks flushed. “I wanted to make sure he had a good home to go to. Someone that was going to look after him.”

Someone knocks on the front door before either of them get a chance to say anything else.

“That should be Grace. Rachel was going to drop her off here.”

Sure enough the front door is thrown open and Grace’s voice sounds out.

“Danno? Uncle Steve?”

“In here, monkey.” Danny stands and moves through into the living room. “How was school sweetheart?”

“Today was amazing.” Grace stumbles to a halt in the doorway. She’s just about to explain what was so amazing at school when she sees the puppies.

Steve winces at the high pitched squeal and steps out of the way as Grace charges forward. She drops her school bag and hurries over to the kneel down.

“Grace. Calm down a little, you’ll scare them.” Rupert and Randall voice their own excitement with loud yips and tiny barks, nearly drowning out Danny’s voice.

“You got them both!”

“No, no. No.” Danny rests his hand on Grace’s shoulder. “I got you one. Uncle Steve surprised me and adopted Rupert after I decided on Randall.”

“Uncle Steve!” Grace stands and barrels into Steve’s legs. “You’re the best!”

“Thanks, sweetie,” Steve murmurs, blushing. He looks up to see Danny watching them, a fond smile on his features.

Grace steps back to play with the puppies. She pets and hugs them, smiling and laughing. Steve feels his heart clench at the sight. Danny silently comes to stand beside him.

“Thank you.”

Steve turns at the quiet words. “For what?”

“This. You know what it means to her. To me.”

Steve moves slightly, his arm brushing Danny’s. “Hey, Gracie. You never told us what was so amazing at school today.”

“We learnt about different types of families. I told my class about my two dads.”

Danny stiffens. “Your two dads?”

Steve grips Danny’s shoulder. “That was nice of you to talk about Danny and Stan.”

Grace stops playing suddenly to turn around, peering up at them. “No. Danno and you.”

Danny’s breath hitches. “Darling. I think you’re a little confused...”

“No.” Grace crosses her arms over her chest. She watches them seriously. “I’m not silly. I know Uncle Steve loves you like Stan loves Mom.”

“Danno...” Steve whispers, as he tries to keep a straight face.

“You know that Steve and I care about each other—”

“I know you two are boyfriends,” Grace says immediately. “I’ve known for a long time.You look at Steve like you looked at Mom before we moved here.”

Danny looks up at him, eyes wide. “Say something,” he mutters.

“What should I say?” Steve tangles his hand in Danny’s. “I think she already knows everything.”

“You’re too smart for your own good, Grace.” Danny watches her helplessly. “Are you...okay with this?”

Grace laughs loudly until she realizes Danny is serious. “Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

Danny shifts unconsciously until Steve tightens their fingers. “I want you to know that you always come first. You know that right?”

“Yes, Danno.”

Grace sounds so grown up that Steve takes a deep breath. He’s come to love her as if she was his own and her unconditional acceptance warms his heart. Slowly he steps away from Danny to squat down before Grace. He holds his hand out to her.

“Hey,” Grace whispers. She walks forward into Steve’s arms. “You love my dad, right?”

“Yes, I do,” Steve whispers back. He feels Danny move closer to them and smiles softly.

“Are you going to treat him right?”

“Yes.I’m going to try,” Steve says, trying to control the grin breaking out. “I will do everything in my power to make him happy.”

“Okay.” Grace reaches a hand out to Danny, not moving out of Steve’s embrace. “I give you both my blessing.”

Steve and Danny’s eyes meet and they both smile.

Until two puppies force their way between the three of them.

Steve looks down and sighs, seeing the innocent puppy faces staring up at them.

The sense of family and affection overwhelm him and he blinks away moisture in his eyes, determined not to let Danny see.

Without saying a word, Danny reaches over and drags the pad of his thumb across Steve’s cheek. He smiles and winks.

Grace snuggles back against Steve, holding Danny’s hand and lets the puppies crawl into her lap.

Steve closes his eyes for a brief moment and thanks whatever power it was that sent Danny and his daughter to his island.  



End file.
